


Rarely So Lazy

by ilien



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:05:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3117857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilien/pseuds/ilien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Mycroft met Lestrade without intending to, and one time it was Lestrade's intention.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rarely So Lazy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mm8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mm8/gifts).



> Written for Megan's Fandom Stocking.

Sherlock wanted to play deductions, and, therefore, Mycroft got to choose the first target.

“Young man over there, the one talking to the constable,” he offered. 

“Let me see... They’ve been talking for at least five minutes, but he doesn’t look distressed or in a hurry, which means he probably just stopped for a chat. They’re friends.”

“Good, good. But they didn’t go to school together.”

“Not childhood friends, no. The constable is on duty, he wouldn’t abandon it just to talk to a mate. They’re colleagues.”

“Not quite.”

“A Sergeant, newly promoted,” Sherlock noticed as the constable saluted the man in question.

“Obviously. No one salutes Sergeants, it was a reference to their new difference in rank.” Mycroft added as the sergeant walked away. Mycroft briefly considered tracking the man down to probably ask him out, but his shoes indicated he already had a date. Case closed, Sherlock’s turn to pick a target.

 

***

Mycroft accompanied his mother to the opera and he was terribly bored. Sherlock, apparently, had a “thing” – the exact “thing”, Mycroft assumed, that’d been keeping Sherlock from attending such events since he was old enough to make excuses, which meant Mycroft had hours (feels like years, really) of nothing but deductions to entertain himself. 

The couple in front of him was newly married, Mycroft could tell from the way they both were fumbling with their wedding rings. The husband fancied himself happily married, judging from the way he’d been caressing the band, like he couldn’t believe it was there. The wife was having second thoughts, if the way she’d been taking the ring off and putting it on again was any indication. She caught Mycroft’s eye and gave him a flirty smile. Flirts with strangers right in front of her new husband, interesting. Mycroft wouldn’t be surprised if she started cheating soon.

When the man turned around, Mycroft recognized the sergeant from three years ago. The world is sometimes rather small, wouldn’t you say?

***

The third time Mycroft saw the man was just as incidental as the first two. Mycroft attempted to take a walk in the park to clear his head in the middle of a busy Sunday morning (sometimes it’s important to take fifteen minutes off, especially when there is a big decision to make, which is any given day for Mycroft), only to discover it was the wrong day to take a walk in that particular park. Judging from the number of police cars, it was at least a double homicide. 

The Sergeant, obviously, made Inspector less than a year ago; the size of his shirt told Mycroft that the Inspector was supposed to have a day off that Sunday, and that his wife had recently started cheating – years later than Mycroft predicted, quite impressive. The state of the Inspector's wedding band indicated that he was going to be thoroughly oblivious, regardless of the number of oversized shirts in his wardrobe. 

***

When Mycroft discovered the identity of his newly appointed liaison to Scotland Yard, he wasn’t even surprised. He’d had time to suspect someone’s agenda, and after ruling out fifteen most probable scenarios of pushing him into the Inspector Lestrade’s orbit, and had to admit it was a series coincidences, however unlikely. 

“We shall not ask you for anything you feel uncomfortable with,” Mycroft explained once they’d finished the introductions . “In fact, every request we make will go through official channels and require a formal report. All you’ll have to do is react immediately, rather than wait for the red tape to come through. You’ll have to report certain activities that are entirely within your area of expertise, and occasionally answer questions. I shall be your only contact; anyone else asking questions with a reference to me or my organization is to be mislead and reported. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Lestrade replied, and that was pretty much all. The Inspector didn’t look like he was enjoying his new assignment, but he didn’t have to enjoy it as long as he did his job.

***

“Guess whom I arrested for Class B possession? He’s bloody lucky I recognized the name and took the case myself.”

“Sherlock had a Class B? I’ve been expecting something heavier.”

“Dexedrine,” Lestrade elaborated. 

“Amphetamines. That explains it.”

“You’re so calm. It’s your bloody brother, Holmes! He’s been using for God knows how long, and all you can say is, “That explains it!”

“It is your right to give this case a go, Detective Inspector, but if you made an exception and dismissed it for the lack of evidence, you’d be doing me a personal favour,” Mycroft interrupted. “In the future, you would very much oblige me if you’d keep reporting to me should he draw your attention, while keeping the fact of our involvement to yourself.” 

“You want me to secretly spy on your brother?” Lestrade questioned, and he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“I worry about him,” Mycroft explained, and suddenly realized that was honest to God truth. 

Detective Inspector must have recognized the sincerity, because instead of objecting he just nodded and said, “I’ll see what I can do.” 

Mycroft suspected Sherlock would now begin to bother Lestrade every chance he’d get; he’d been looking for a bright Scotland Yard inspector for years, it wasn’t Lestrade’s fault he was probably the only bright inspector in the entire organization. 

Judging from Detective Inspector’s aftershave, his wife was still cheating on him. Judging from the way he was treating his wedding ring now, he was beginning to suspect.

***

"I just wanted to show you something," Gregory said as he entered Mycroft's office, uninvited. Mycroft didn't quite notice how he got from "Detective Inspector" to "Gregory", but obviously, that did happen within the last couple of years. 

"I'm all ears," Mycroft nodded, happy to take a break from his paperwork.

"I'd rather have eyes," Gregory grinned, and then showed Mycroft the palm of his hand. 

There was nothing wrong with the hand. Mycroft looked at him expectantly. 

"What is it that I'm supposed to see?"

"It's not what's there, Mycroft, it's what isn't."

Oh. The wedding ring. 

"C'mon. I know you've been staring at it for years, do you think you're subtle?"

"I—", he tried to say, but Lestrade interrupted him.

"It's kind of cute. Thank you for not saying anything while I wasn't on the same page."

Mycroft never thought of it in terms of ever being on the same page. It was a theoretical interest. Truly.

"I—", he'd started again, but didn't know what to say. He'd been having a crush for twenty years, and the object of said crush noticed it before him. This was outrageous. 

"The divorce was finalized two months ago," Gregory explained, although Mycroft already knew that. "I kept the ring because I wasn't ready to move on just yet. Now I am."

Oh. 

"So, I've been thinking," Lestrade continued, "Dinner? A walk in the park? A beer?"

When Mycroft found his voice again, it was to say, "Anything. As long as it's not in the opera."

Gregory gave him a puzzled look, and when Mycroft did not elaborate on the opera joke, picked beer in the park, quite possibly out of pure spite.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if I messed up ranks or Britain-specific details. I didn't have time to have this betaed or Brit-picked, so please feel free to correct any mistakes you find.


End file.
